Getting Started Guide: The New Litmus Platform

Note: The new Litmus platform is currently only available to Litmus Enterprise accounts.

Here’s a quick start guide to the new Litmus platform and the features to improve your workflow.

Overview: The new Litmus platform

The new Litmus platform has a number of new and exciting features:

  • Builder, Proof, and Checklist are now integrated in one seamless view. Rapidly build, test, and review your email campaigns in one seamless view, helping to streamline your production process and increase productivity.
  • Folders + subfolders to easily store and organize your email campaigns. Easily create and rename folders and subfolders to centralize your emails, and make finding and sorting emails a breeze for your team.
  • Task templates to maintain quality and consistency. Utilize task templates to ensure every email adheres to your brand’s production process and get full visibility into progress.
  • “Push” functionality in Builder allows you to maintain version control. Make quick iterative changes in Litmus to your emails. When you’re ready, push the updated changes from Builder to Checklist and Proof, ensuring everyone on your team is always looking at the most updated version.
  • Multiple ways to start an email. Reduce the number of tools in your workflow and easily create an email via the method that aligns best with your process, and the stage of your workflow that you’re in: Build, Approve/Review, or Test. You can choose to email in from your email provider, sync your email from your service provider, import your HTML, paste your HTML, or start your project in Builder.
  • Access your legacy Litmus projects into the new Litmus platform. Legacy Email Analytics and Spam Testing reports are automatically available in the new Litmus platform. With the click of a button, you can transfer your legacy Builder projects into the new Litmus platform. Whether you’re mid-campaign and need to continue working on a project—or want to have pre-existing projects in the new platform for a system of record—you can choose which projects you’d like transferred. Once transferred, they will no longer be accessible in the legacy platform (it'll be marked a transferred project with a link to it in the new platform). Support for Checklist and Proof is coming soon!

Quick start to creating your first email

There are two ways to create your first email:

1. Utilize your personal email address to send in your email from your email provider. You can set up a new personalized email in the Inbox folder. Once you have your email address, go to your email provider and send a draft of your email to that email address. The draft will then appear in the Inbox folder. You can then move it into the appropriate folder.

If you click on the email, you’ll be brought to the Summary view where you can edit the name, description, due date, status, and tasks. You can also hop between Builder, Proof, and Checklist views.

2. Click on “Create a new email” on the dashboard or “Create email” within any folder. When you click on this modal, you’ll be given three ways to start your email.

Here’s a quick overview of each of these three options:

  • Build: This is the best option if you want to write your HTML from scratch or via a template, or upload your HTML from Dropbox, Google Drive, or One Drive.
  • Approve: If you want to Invite stakeholders to review and approve your email, this is the best option. You can choose to paste your HTML, send in from your ESP, sync from your ESP, or import your HTML from Dropbox, Google Drive, or One Drive.
  • Test: Ready for final QA? Validate your email is working as intended before sending with this option. You can choose to paste your HTML, send in from your ESP, sync from your ESP, or import your HTML from Dropbox, Google Drive, or One Drive.

Providing feedback + known issues

We welcome all of your feedback as you discover it: Confused? Have a wish list item? Want to send the team some praise, just let us know. Click on the “(?) New Litmus Platform” button at the bottom center of your screen. Utilize the “Give feedback” button to send your feedback directly to our team. You can also email hello@litmus.com and put “New Litmus Platform Feedback” in the subject.

Known issues

We do have a few known issues and backlog items that we will be addressing in the coming months. Here is a short list of improvements coming soon:

  • Folders
    • Search functionality.
    • You cannot yet send your emails into a specific folder. The work around is to create an email in a folder first and send to that address with the “New email” modal.
  • Sidebar
    • Folders in the sidebar can’t be re-ordered. They are currently ordered by creation date.
    • The sidebar only shows folders and not emails. We plan to add the ability to navigate between emails using the sidebar.
  • Renaming and moving emails
    • Drag and drop of emails is not yet available.
    • You can only rename an email from the Summary view. We plan to add the ability to rename from any tab.
  • New email dialog
    • Pasting HTML into the “Approve” section does not work in Safari.
  • Slack integration
    • The Slack integration will notify you twice for every new email (New Checklist and New Proof). You may want to adjust your Slack notifications in settings.
  • Asana integration
    • The Asana integration is not currently supported in the new Litmus platform.
  • Legacy Checklist + Proof projects
    • Support for accessing your legacy Checklist and Proof projects into the new Litmus platform is coming soon. In the meantime, switch back to the legacy platform to view those projects.

A few other things to note:

  • To use the “Push” feature in Builder, you must Save first (CMD-S).
  • The Builder view sidebar does not allow you to add multiple HTML emails within one email. Each HTML email needs to be a separate email in the new Litmus platform.
  • Emails created in the new Litmus platform will not be accessible in legacy Litmus.

The new sidebar slides in and out of all pages for easy viewing without interrupting your work space. The state of the sidebar (open or closed) will be remembered. At the top of the sidebar, you’ll see links for Analytics, Spam Testing, and Subaccounts. These areas are not changed in the new Litmus platform, simply click any of these and land on that feature within the application.

You’ll also see three new areas in the sidebar: Inbox, Folders, and Legacy Projects.

Inbox

Any time you create an email by sending in a draft to your personal Litmus address (via your email service provider) your email will end up in the Inbox folder. You can also create an email in the Inbox or in any other folder using the “New Email” button.

Move emails from the Inbox folder into the appropriate folder using the action menu (three dots) to the right of the “Status” column.

Folders

All folders are visible in the sidebar. Easily create, rename, and move folders and subfolders to make finding and sorting emails a breeze for your team. There is currently no limit on the number of folders you can add.

To create Folders use the + folder icon button in the sidebar or the “New Folder” button in the upper right of each Folder.

If you click on a folder, you’ll be taken to a view which shows emails and any subfolders within that folder. This view also provides a sortable, high-level overview of each email, including last edited, due date, and status. You can then click on any of the emails to view it's details and continue working on the email.

Open up the Sidebar or use the “breadcrumbs” at the top of the page to navigate to folders.

Legacy Projects

Click on Builder in the sidebar under “Legacy Projects.” You’ll see all of your legacy Builder projects. Open a project and follow the prompt to have it transferred to the Inbox folder in the new platform.

Once transferred, it will be marked as a transferred project in legacy Litmus and accessible to legacy users by clicking on the “View in new Litmus” button.

Support for transferring Checklist and Proof to the new Litmus platform is coming soon. In the meantime, you can still access those legacy projects by switching back to the legacy platform (click “opt out” in the dialog at the bottom center labeled “New Litmus Platform”.

Creating new emails

Emails are created either by emailing into a personal email address (you can set this up and find this in the Inbox folder), choosing a draft from a connected ESP, importing or pasting HTML, or start from scratch or a template in Builder.

1. Utilize your personal email address to send in your email from your email provider. You can set up your personalized email in the Inbox folder. Once you have your email address, go to your email provider and send a draft of your email to that email address. The draft will then appear in the Inbox folder. You can then move it into the appropriate folder.

If you click on the email, you’ll be brought to the Summary view where you can edit the name, description, due date, status, and tasks. You can also hop between Builder, Proof, and Checklist views.

2. Click on “Create a new email” on the dashboard or “+New email” within any folder. When you click on this button, the New email dialog box appears and provides three ways to start your email:

Build: If you’d like to build your campaign from scratch, utilize a pre-existing template, or import your HTML, then this is the best option for you. There are a few ways to start an email in Builder:

  • Import HTML from Dropbox, Google Drive, or One Drive: This method will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews.
  • Paste HTML: This method will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews.
  • Choose from a template or start building from a blank slate: These methods will only create your email in Builder and do not automatically generate any Email Previews. You can run Email Previews from the Builder view and then “Push” your code from Builder to Checklist and Proof once you’re ready. 

Approve: If you want to Invite stakeholders to review and approve your email, this is the best option. There are a few ways to start your email in Proof:

  • Sync from your ESP: Connect your Litmus account to one of the supported ESPs (Campaign Monitor, MailChimp, Eloqua, Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud*) and select from your recent drafts. This will automatically send an email from your ESP to Litmus—without having to log in to your ESP or switch back and forth between tools. This method will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews.
  • Send in manually from your ESP: Press “Copy” to copy the email address provided in the modal and then send a draft email from your ESP into Litmus. This method will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews.
  • Paste your HTML: This method will automatically create your Proof and also put your HTML in Builder. No Checklist will be created and Email Previews will not be generated. Note that this method is for customers who want to use Proof without generating a Checklist or a set of Email Previews. To create a Checklist, use the Push feature from Builder or email into the New Version address.
  • Import your HTML from Dropbox, Google Drive, or One Drive: This method will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews.

*If you’re a Salesforce Marketing Cloud customer that utilizes the Approval functionality in Content Builder, this functionality will not work unless the email is marked as approved.

Test: Ready for final QA? Validate your email is working as intended before sending with this option. There are a few ways to start your email in Checklist:

  • Sync from your ESP: Connect to one of the supported ESPs (Campaign Monitor, MailChimp, Eloqua, Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud*) and select from your recent drafts. This will automatically send an email from your ESP to Litmus—without having to log in to your ESP or switch back and forth between tools. This method will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews.
  • Send in manually from your ESP: Press “Copy” to copy the email address provided in the modal and send a draft email from your ESP into Litmus. This method will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews.
  • Paste your HTML in the create email modal: This method will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews.
  • Import your HTML from Dropbox, Google Drive, or One Drive: This method will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews.

*If you’re a Salesforce Marketing Cloud customer that utilizes the Approval functionality in Content Builder, this functionality will not work unless the email is marked as approved.

NOTE: You won’t see your emails created in the new Litmus platform in legacy Litmus.

Send in a draft email

If you’re already a Litmus customer, your existing unique personal Litmus email addresses won’t work in the new Litmus platform. You will need to create a new personal email address (@litmusemail.com) when you start using the new Litmus platform.

From the Inbox folder you’ll see the option to create a new personal address. After your personal address has been created, you can then send an email to that address (from your email provider). All emails sent to your personal email address will end up in the Inbox folder. Once your email has been created, you can then move it into the appropriate folder.

Creating an email in a specific folder

If you’d like to create an email via the send in method and have it end up in a specific folder, navigate to the folder and use the “+New Email” button there. Select the “Approve” or “Test” options to get your email address for that specific Litmus email. Sending to this custom address will automatically associate the HTML with this email and in that folder.

Alternate Method: Use your personal email email address (which can be found in the Inbox folder) and send in your mail to the Inbox. From the Inbox you can move it to the appropriate folder.

Choose draft from connected ESP account

Click on “+New Email” and then either the “Approve” or “Test” options. If you’ve connected your ESP with Litmus, we’ll display a list of your most recent draft emails from your ESP. Simply select your draft and we’ll automatically trigger a test send from your ESP into Litmus. You don’t have to switch tools or log in to your ESP.

We offer support in the following ESPs:

  • Campaign Monitor
  • MailChimp
  • Eloqua
  • Marketo
  • Salesforce Marketing Cloud*

*If you’re a Salesforce Marketing Cloud customer that utilizes the Approval functionality in Content Builder, this functionality will not work unless the email is marked as approved.

Import your HTML

Click on “Create Email”. Within “Build,” “Approve,” and “Test” you’ll see an option to import your HTML from Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive.

Simply select the storage system you’d like to use, connect your account, and then pick the HTML file you want to bring into Litmus.

Paste in your HTML or start in Builder

When creating an email by using the “New Email” button, you’ll notice a few places where you can paste in your HTML:

  • Build: Paste your HTML in the new email dialog, or simply press “Start Building” to start from scratch in Builder and paste your HTML in there. The former will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews. The latter (pressing “Start Building” when blank) will automatically open your email in Builder, and will not automatically generate Email Previews or auto populate your email in the Proof and Checklist views. You can move your code from Builder to Proof and Checklist with the Push button.
  • Approve: This method will automatically create your Proof and also put your HTML in Builder. No Checklist will be created and Email Previews will not be generated. Note that this method is for customers who want to use Proof without generating a Checklist or a set of Email reviews. To create a Checklist, use the Push feature from Builder or email into the New Version address.
  • Test: Paste your HTML in the create email modal. This will automatically create your email across Builder, Proof, and Checklist, and automatically generate one set of Email Previews.

Don’t have your HTML yet but want to fill out the Summary view? Simply click on the “New email” modal and then close it out. It’ll automatically drop you in the Summary view.

Switching between workflow views (Summary, Builder, Proof, Checklist)

You’ll notice four views at the top of your email: Summary, Builder, Proof, and Checklist. You can easily toggle between views by simply clicking on the appropriate view in the navigation bar.

Summary view

The Summary view is new to the Litmus platform and provides a high-level overview of your email, including its name, due date, description, status, and the tasks associated with the email. Use the thumbnail image to upload a new version.

In addition, you can add in a due date (ie. when will the email be sent, or go live), as well as the status of the campaign (ie. is it just in the planning phases or is it ready to send?). This information is displayed in the folder views to provide an overview of work in progress across your account.

Associate HTML to your email in Summary view

Before you’ve associated HTML to this email you will see a dialog box covering the Summary information. You can dismiss this dialog using the X in the corner in order to name your email, as well as add the other information before adding your HTML. The description may be a good place to add relevant information, such as goals and audience.

Once you’re ready, you can then add HTML by clicking on the thumbnail image.

Tasks in Summary view

The Summary view contains a task area where you can add tasks that you need to accomplish on this email. Create a Task Template (Enterprise plans only) to ensure that every email adheres to your brand’s production process and get visibility into open and closed tasks.

You can add additional tasks to the email in addition to what’s automatically added by the template.

Task Templates are unique for each subaccount and editable by the Account Holder, Admin, and Full Users. Create a task template by adding, editing, moving, and deleting tasks in Task Template settings. Once created, all the tasks in the template will be created for all new emails. Learn more about Task Templates here: https://help.litmus.com/article/257-how-to-set-up-task-templates

Connecting the email to your Email Service Provider (ESP) in Summary view

By connecting your Email Service Provider (ESP) and Litmus, it’s never been easier to build and test your email. Simply visit the Manage ESP page https://litmus.com/esp/manage or the Summary tab from within an email to connect an ESP to your Litmus account or subaccount. Then from the Summary view of your email, you can choose to sync your email with any ESP you have connected.

Once an email is synced, any changes made in Builder will automatically update the HTML and image assets in your ESP. Litmus provides ESP Syncing support for the following ESPs:

  • Campaign Monitor
  • MailChimp
  • Eloqua
  • Marketo
  • Salesforce Marketing Cloud
  • IBM Watson Campaign Automation

Pushing updates from Builder to Proof + Checklist

Editing your email in Builder? Once you’re happy with your updates, push the updated HTML to Checklist and Proof, ensuring that everyone on your team is always looking at the most updated version. To do this, save your email in Builder, and then click the “Push” button.

Once you click Push, the most updated HTML will be viewable in Proof and Checklist. By doing this, a new version of Proof and Checklist will be created. It works the same way as if you clicked “New version” in Proof in or “Retest” in Checklist in legacy Litmus. You can still review previous Proof iterations.

Sharing

There are a few ways to share your email in this new user experience. To share the entire email with an existing Litmus user on the account (including all four views: Summary, Builder, Proof, Checklist), simply copy and share the URL that is generated in the address bar. Note that each tab view has a separate URL.

Sharing individual Builder, Proof, and Checklist views works exactly how it historically has.

  • Builder: Click on the “Share” button within your Builder view. You’ll be able to create a public URL, email the project, or embed it. You can choose to share just the HTML, or the Email Previews, too.
  • Proof: Click on the “Share Proof” button within your Proof view. You’ll be able to invite users that are on your Litmus account (and those that aren’t) via names/email addresses in the share modal, or you can create a public share link.
  • Checklist: Click on the “Share Checklist” button within your Checklist view. You’ll be able to create a shareable public URL to the Checklist or download the content of your Checklist (which includes screenshot previews of the email). You can choose to share specific areas of the Checklist, or the entire thing.

User roles

Here are how user roles work with the new Litmus experience:

  • Proof Reviewer: Can view and review only the Proof section of an email. While viewing a Proof these reviewers can make comments and approvals. These users are created from the Proof sharing dialog if you add a new reviewer to a Proof. Proof reviewers cannot delete or modify anything in your Litmus account. Proof reviewers can only see the Proofs they have been invited to and cannot see folders.
  • Reviewer: Can view all areas of an email including tasks, emails, tests, and campaign results in Analytics. Can review Proofs and comment on them. Reviewers cannot delete or modify anything in your Litmus account.
  • Full User: Has full edit access to all emails and can access all Litmus features. Cannot manage user permissions.
  • Admin: Has all the permissions of a Full user plus ability to edit/delete users on sub-accounts they have access to. Unlike account holders, Admins cannot manage sub-account creation or global security settings. Admins on Parent accounts can manage billing; if an Admin is on only on a sub-account, they will not have access to billing.
  • Account Holder: Have all the permissions of an Admin and can manage/create sub-accounts, manage billing, and set global security settings for any accounts. They also have full access to all Litmus features in the account.

Switching back to legacy Litmus

Hop between the new Litmus platform and legacy Litmus with a single click. Within the new Litmus platform, click on “(?) New Litmus Platform” at the bottom center of your screen. You’ll then see the option to switch over to legacy Litmus. Within legacy Litmus, click on “Try new Litmus” at the top of the sidebar to switch back to the new Litmus user experience.

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